France´s secular laws can accommodate Islam: Hollande
 

PARIS: President Francois Hollande insisted Thursday that France´s strict laws separating church and state do **t prevent the country´s large Muslim mi**rity from practising their religion.

In a speech on terrorism and democracy coming in the midst of a debate on the banning of the Islamic burkini swimsuit, Hollande said: "**thing in the idea of secularism opposes the practice of Islam in France, provided it respects the law."

Mayors in around 30 French towns last month cited the country´s century-old secular laws in banning head-to-toe swimwear on their beaches, unleashing a furore.

Hollande said secularism was **t a "state religion" to be used against other religions.

The state guaranteed "the right to believe or **t to believe" as long the demonstration of that belief did "**t disrupt public order," he said.

Asking whether Islam could co-exist with a secular French state, like Christianity and Judaism, he insisted: "My answer is yes, certainly."

"The question the Republic must answer is: Is it really ready to make place for a religion that it did **t expect to be this big over a century ago. There too, my answer is yes, certainly."

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